| ■ China Begins Emergency Vaccinations in Quake-Hit Areas | 2008.06.02 |
| Mass emergency vaccinations are being launched in earthquake-hit areas of China in order to prevent possible epidemics, the government announced Tuesday. "By June 15, emergency inoculation of vulnerable people will be completed including vaccines against hepatitis A and encephalitis B," said Ministry of Health spokesman Sun Jiahai, AFP reported. There was no clarification about how many people would be vaccinated or who was classed as vulnerable. Sun also said China will store 100,000 vaccines against cholera, 20,000 against rabies, and 30,000 for measles, mumps and rubella. "The immunity of local people has been weakened, so they will become more vulnerable to epidemics," warned Qi Xiaoqui, director of the disease control bureau of the Health Ministry, AFP reported. While there has been an increase in cases of diarrhea and fever in quake-hit areas, there haven't been any major disease outbreaks, he said. |